US missile defence system 'deployed in five years'

America should have an effective system of missile defence in place within the next five years, the US general heading the programme says.

Lieutenant General Ronald Kadish is visiting Britain's early warning station at Fylingdales in North Yorkshire which could form part of the system.

In a speech to Britain's Royal United Services Institute in London, he said the US has demonstrated the technology behind the system works.

It is now looking to move forward on an "aggressive development and potential deployment programme".

The British government insists it has yet to receive any formal request from the Americans to use the North Yorkshire bases at Fylingdales and at Menwith Hill.

The decision is acutely sensitive for the British government, which faces strong opposition from the Labour backbenches, with left-wingers arguing that it would be massively expensive and could trigger a new arms race.

In a speech last week, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon gave his strongest signal yet that Britain would allow the bases to be used.

He said missile defence is "in the interests of the UK and its people, just as much as it is in the interests of the United States".

General Kadish's visit to Fylingdales - described by the Ministry of Defence as a "informal familiarisation visit" - is likely to be seen as a clear indication of US interest in the bases.

In his speech, he stressed the US is keen to co-operate with its European allies, either through Nato or a new European missile defence agency.